Safe Keeping
by DeborahsFrench
Summary: A mad man is off kidnapping pregnant women. The next victim is a little to close to home for the team. Elle/Hotch friendship. Elle/OC
1. Chapter One

**Chapter One**

"Guys, we have a case. It's serious." Where the words the team hated to hear from JJ, but, without a huff they all raced into the meeting room and sat around the table, case files laid out in front of them.

"Okay, last week Georgia PD were notified of a missing pregnant woman... It seems that this was the fourth they have been told about. Then, yesterday, the woman's body turned up in a river. She seemed to have been murdered by a slice across her throat." Clicking on the remote pictures started to flash on the screen. "Alexis Bridges' husband said that she was going out to work, like her daily routine, when she went missing. When they found her body they found signs of trauma and stress... It seemed she had been in labour only a few hours prior to her murder."

"And the baby?" Rossi asked, JJ gave a shake of her head.

"It seems that she gave birth, then was murdered. We haven't found signs of any of the children." She took a steadying breath, willing the watery tears to leave her eyes. "Maya Ramaskle was the first victim, as far as we know. She was pregnant, and just like Alexis, was murdered after the birth." More clicks and more horrific images filled their screens.

"Her husband?" Hotch asked.

"There wasn't one. A friend of her's did say that Maya claimed to have been raped around the same time she became pregnant."

"So what about the other victims?" Emily asked, shifting a little in her seat.

"Taali Walker went missing a month after Maya. Her family, or more specifically, her cousin said she too had been raped and had gotten pregnant. And then Louise Falkner, exact same circumstances. Raped and then found after giving birth, this time it was only three weeks afterwards."

"And then Maya was found two weeks after?" JJ gave a nod to Morgan's question.

"So he's escalating?" Reid asked.

"It seems so."

"But the last victim was married, and her child, as far as the husband knew, was his own." Prentiss inputted.

"Yeah, it seems that the husband knew they were in a steady relationship, and it seemed that they were actually a happy family. They had a four year old son already." As if things could not have gotten any worse.

"So what? His newest victim was not ready to have the baby, and he just picked off the first pregnant woman he could find?" Her stomach did a flip.

"We've asked around the area, and there doesn't seem to be anyone fitting the profile of a rape victim who is nearly 38 weeks pregnant." JJ gave a defeated sigh.

"So he's impotent? Maybe the last victim left him a little worse for wear, so he did all he could manage to do which was to take an already pregnant woman." Morgan suggested.

"What about the babies?" Hotch now asked, barely unable to tear his eyes away from the images in front of him.

"We don't know anything of the whereabouts. Although, we've figured that they the oldest would be around the age of two already. Garcia checked the records, but it seems highly unlikely that he actually registered the babies births."

"And has another woman gone missing yet?" Rossi now asked, JJ gave a shake of her head.

"No, but if he is fitting the status he is looking for one right now, or he already has her and no one has noticed."

"Wheels up in twenty." Was all their unit chief could say as he left the room.

.

A soft hand rubbed over her large stomach as she felt one of her babies relentless kicks.

"Hey, calm down in there madam. Mommy's trying to get to work." Scolded the brunette woman.

Her hand landed on the soft interior of the car door as she pressed the button down and let the window open to release a bunch of cool air into the warm car. Then she gave a hiss. Why the hell did she have to be pregnant around the summer time?

Blowing out a deep breath, she put a small smile onto her face as she stopped at another red light. Then she was thankful, at least today was her last day at work and then she could finally rest up before the baby arrived in a few weeks.

An annoying ringing filled up the car, a ringing she knew all to well. Swiftly, she reached onto the dash board and pressed the answer button on her radio cell connector.

"Greenaway." She answered.

"Hey, Elle. We have a job, there's been a call and a lot of us are heading over to Norfork's house." A man said to her.

"Alright, Johnny. I'll be over there as soon as I get the hell out of this traffic jam." Her eyes looked up and found the light was now green, but not a single car was moving more than an inch.

"Can't I convince you just to go home? Take the day off." He tried, and she smiled slightly, knowing he had been trying the same thing for the past week.

"Not a chance. As if I'd miss my last day on the job before I become a mom!" She heard him give a light laugh.

"Fine, but no over doing it. You know Mark would never forgive us if you went into early labour because of the stress." She gave a slight laugh.

"You think this job is stressful?" She gave a groan, "You'll never make it in the FBI." She teased.

"Fine. But please, just take it easy. And careful driving. I'll see you in an hour." He told her.

"Geez. You'd think I was married to you!" Elle laughed.

"I am pretty sure your husband would be far from happy with that, Elle. But I'm under strict orders to keep you safe..." He began to ramble off.

"Yeah, away from the psychos and the guns... yada yada yada. You've said this every day this past week. God, I'd think you couldn't wait to get rid of me!" She laughed and her eyes fell down onto the golden ring on her finger, neatly next to another ring with a small diamond on it.

"You know I'll miss you when your gone, but you need to keep that baby safe!" He ranted again, and the traffic began moving.

"Yeah, yeah yeah. Look, I got to go. The traffic is letting up. I'll see you soon!" They said their goodbyes before the phones were hung up, and Elle began her drive towards the countryside house.

.

"Hi, I am Agent Jareau, these are Agents Prentiss, Morgan and Dr. Spencer Reid." JJ introduced them all, pointing at each team member as she said their names.

"Agent Rice." He introduced himself, shaking each of their hands. "I thought there were more of you..." His brow wrinkled in confusion.

"Yeah, Agents Rossi and Hotchner went straight to the dumpsite to see what they could find there." Morgan told them.

"Of course. Well, we're waiting on one of our officers still, but…" He glanced over the top of his sunglasses and saw that Elle was still no where in sight. Maybe she just stopped off to go to the toilet. Hell, he knew that child was playing with her bladder.

"I would like to see how the press is handling this." JJ said, snatching him away from his glances.

"Of course. Right this way." They all walked towards the old house.

.

As she turned around the corner, she found herself coming onto yet another abandoned road. The wind blowing cool air around her car, a satisfied smile played on her mouth as she turned each new bend. Giving a light gulp, she remembered why they were at this house... Those poor women.

Her eyes glanced into her rear-view mirror as she sensed she was no longer alone on the highway road. And she was right. Lights came blurring off of the other car, and despite the fact she was a police officer, Elle Greenaway found herself pulling into the side of the road. Stupidity.

"Can I help you?" She asked as someone walked over to her window. Then she began digging around in her pocket for her ID badge.

"No..." Something horrific struck her in the back of his voice and she panicked. Reaching around frantically for her gun, she could not get it out in time, as something was covered over her mouth and the stench of chloroform filled her nasal passages... Then everything went dark.

.

"So she was found right here." Hotch said, as he and Rossi climbed down a small hill to the side of the river.

"The stream seems light, calm. She could have been in the river for days before she reached this spot." Then Rossi looked around, "But it's an isolated area, and it seems like there would have been no neighbours to see anything suspicious going on." Hotch too glanced around.

"And there's no major roads. It seems like he did his research before dumping her here." David gave an agreeing nod. "So he knows the area. Probably grew up here, or around here." Hotch suggested.

"He's far more clever than that, Probably looked for this area for a while before deciding on it." Hotch gave a sigh.

"We're not going to get much without a map." Giving an agreeing nod, Rossi took his cell out as it rang.

"Rossi… Sure… We'll go… Alright then." He hung up, and Hotch gave him a 'what's up' look. "We have a witness." He informed him. "I said we'd go. JJ is texting the address over."

"Why don't you head back to the station and work with Reid on the profile, I'll check out this witness?" Hotch suggested.

"You sure?" He gave a nod.

"I am armed if anything looks suspicious. But everything should be fine." Giving a defeated sigh, Rossi nodded.

"Sure."

.

When Elle started to come around, the first thing she noticed was the stench of hairspray filling the car. It was a sickening one. Then she realised just what had happened, and automatically began to reach for where her weapon would be.

"Don't even try it, Greenaway. You think I'm stupid enough to leave you with your gun?" He gave her a rose eyebrow through the rear-view mirror. "Now then, if you and your baby want to survive, you will do as I say." There was a chill in his voice. "Understood?"

Elle's eyes fell onto the floor in a state of panic, looking for something to save her from this, but there was nothing. It seemed she had been stripped of all of her weapons and the car was bear. Instead, she just gave a nod.

"Good." He smirked at her, "I thought this was going to be a lot harder with a cop, but no, it seems that all mother's think the same, no matter what your profession." There was a teasing tone in his voice, almost begging for her to try something else. But she would not dare.

Instead she watched the road go by, the trees that she knew lead to a forest. The drop did not seem too bad, she thought, planning on a time she could just jump out of the car and escape.

"Child lock is on." It was as if he could read her thoughts. "Don't think I'm that stupid do you?" He laughed.

"You must be stupid. You kidnapped a cop in the middle of broad daylight! Someone is going to come looking for me." She informed him.

"Oh yeah, but they'll never find you. They won't find any of us. Instead they'll find your body in a dumpster and you're baby will be completely missing." His smile was taunting her to reach out and punch him. Of course, she could not. Knowing that if she even tried, and it worked, the possibility of the car flying off of the road was too high. "For now, though, Miss Greenaway, I think you should rest. You see, the next few days are going to be hell for you." The voice was calm, collected, and it filled her with even more fear.

"What do you want from me?" Stupid question.

"Really?" He gave a small laugh. "You've been searching for me for, oh… three months, and you still don't know what I want? You are seriously lacking in intelligence." Giving a smirk to her, Elle gave a shiver. "You'll know soon enough."

Elle stayed silent, not wanting to give this psychopath any thrill from her replies. Instead she watched as each tree passed by, everything blending into one as she felt her headache from the chloroform. A soft rub of her temple was all she had told herself she needed, and, raising her hand to do so, she felt a strong kick from her baby. Still using one to rub away the pain, she used her left hand to rub at the spot where the baby was actively kicking. Normally, talking to her baby would stop the kicks, or make them more agitated on some occasion, but now she did not say a word. Instead she gave a smile, and gave a satisfied thought that, for now at least, her baby was alive.

The car gave a turn and she saw the large house form in front of her. It was huge. Not just homely huge, more like farmyard and all huge. The gardens around it were neatly tamed, and her eyes locked onto the barn they were driving past. She gave a curse in her head, knowing that she should have listened to Bane's profile. As they pulled up to the front of the house, she noted that it seemed to have three floors, and was actually quite rustic in it's appearance.

"Don't try anything." He reminded her, and got out of his side of the car, taking the keys with him.

For a moment Elle wondered if he would just leave her out in the car forever, but no. The door opened a moment later and he gave her orders to get out.

Getting out of the car was a lot easier said than done, especially when you were thirty six weeks pregnant. But she managed to do so in the end. Carefully thanking Mark, her husband, for getting them a bigger car a few months ago. Laughing at the thought of her having to do that everyday. The laugh soon turned to a grimace, as the car was locked, and he began pushing her towards the front door of his house. Then she found the opportunity.

"Help!" She began to scream at the top of her lungs. "Help! Help!" She screamed, over and over. But he was never phased by it. Seeming to take pleasure from her cries than anything else.

"Scream all you want. There is no one here to hear you scream." He informed her, unlocking the door. "But I would suggest you stop. Wouldn't want you putting added stress on that baby of yours would we." She gave a defeated sigh, knowing he was right. "Good. Now I want you to walk down the stairs and there should be a basement door to the right." He held the door open for her, which only made Elle think this creep had multiple personalities or something. I mean, he was being a complete gentleman to her at one moment, while kidnapping her! But she gave a defeated sigh, and followed his orders, only hoping that everyone realised she was missing.


	2. Chapter Two

**Thank everyone so much for the response this story has gotten. This chapter is for all of you.**

**Now, I said I was going to update on Sunday, and I was, then AJ Cook announced that she was back for 2 more years! I found myself so excited I could not sleep, hence the update.**

**Please take the time to review and give me your feedback.**

**Chapter Two (I have tried to underline this six times, and it will not do it, sorry)**

He nervously tapped against the table while all of the agents began to pin things on the board. Adding a small profile as they went. His foot began to tap anxiously against the floor, making an annoying noise.

"Something bothering you?" Rossi asked, turning to look Johnny in the eye.

"Um… Nothing. Carry on." He said, now dismissing all of the looks of concern from the rest of the team. Standing up, he grabbed his phone and walked out of the room.

Pressing the call button, he waited… The phone began to ring out, but there was no answer.

"Elle, what the hell?" He groaned. Giving a defeated sigh, he called Mark, who answered after the first few rings.

"Officer Sanders." Came his reply.

"Mark, it's Johnny." Officer Rice said, and that automatically sent him into panic.

"What's wrong with Elle, has she gone into labour? Oh, I knew she shouldn't have gone in this morning." He began to ramble.

"Um… no. She hasn't." He hoped, and then it became real that her husband had not saw her since this morning. "We were just wondering if you could run a few plates for us."

"Sure." There was relief in his tone.

"Okay, it's alpha sixty-nine delta four." Then he paused as Mark repeated it too him. "Okay then, call back when you have it." He then hung up and began to look round in a small panic.

Jonathan Rice knew how much trouble he would be in if he could not keep track of Elle Greenaway. Of course, everyone knew she was one to go off script and go missing. But she always answered her cell. Plus, she was pregnant now. He really needed to find her. His eyes fell onto a younger officer.

"Officer Hayes." He said, and the young lad's eyes looked up to his,

"Sir?"

"I need you to drive back to town, and go to Officer Greenaway's house." He ordered, and the youngster passed him a confused look. "She hasn't arrived and isn't answering her cell, so keep on the lookout for her or her car. Give me a call and check in when you find her…" Or if you don't. He wanted to add, but he would not dwell on the downside right that minute. Right now Elle was at home, fast asleep and had left her cell downstairs in the car. That was what he was going to tell himself.

Walking back into the room, he felt Rossi's eyes on him again.

"Everything alright?" He asked, and Johnny just nodded.

"Yeah, everything is fine." He hoped. Praying to God that Elle was not the next victim. His stomach turned as he looked at the pictures on the board of all of the dead women, shaking his head to stop imagining her being the next up there.

.

As Aaron Hotchner drove down the highway road, he noted that there was a sense of isolation. There seemed to be no neighbours around. Recalling the last time he had saw a house on the drive down, he noted that it had been some miles ago. Pushing the weird feeling that something was not right to the back of his mind, he carried on towards the house, which his sat-nav told him was still a few miles ahead.

Sunglass covered eyes looked into the mirror and he noticed that he was truly alone on this road, not a single car ahead or behind him. So his foot pressed a little harder on the gas and he began to speed up ever so slightly to make this journey take less time than it needed to be.

It was only ten minutes later that he realised he was driving into a farm. An isolated farm without animals. That was not good at all, and, if it had been anyone else he would have screamed not for them to go in alone. But he had his gun, just in case something was wrong. Besides, he was only going to check on a witness and note down what he witnessed. Nothing screamed 'pregnant woman, baby thief, serial killer' to him.

Noticing the car in the driveway, he creased his brow, and frowned slightly. It was a small car, and white. Nothing that was farm suitable really. The place was silent, too silent.

Against his better judgement, he got out of the car, locking it and shoving his keys into his pocket before sliding his FBI badge out, and holding it open, as one hand rasped on the door.

It was only a second before it opened, and an man stood there. Mid thirties, looking slightly worse for wear. He had brown eyes, brown light hair and pale skin. The top he wore was a stereotypical farmers 'cowboy' shirt, that Hotch thought was all too cliché.

"Jimmy Cooper?" He asked, and the man nodded. Then he held the badge up. "I'm with the FBI, there are some questions I need to ask you." He gave a nod, and opened the door a little more.

As he closed the door behind Hotch and lead him into the living room, he gave a gulp. Feeling trapped. The FBI was here... They knew it was him. He eyed the gun on Hotch's belt and felt even more panicked. Praying to God that Elle did not wake up and scream in the meantime. He offered Hotch a drink.

"Just a coffee, thanks." Hotch shifted slightly on the seat he was on, looking around at his surroundings.

It was a big house, and it was always kept nice and clean as far as he could tell. Yet it was void of pictures. Nothing seemed personal in the house at all. It looked more like a show house. One that was never meant for someone to live in.

"Here." Jimmy said, as he came back with a cup in his hand. "Hope it's okay." Hotch gave him a grateful smile and then took a mouthful of the streaming liquid. Swallowing down hard, he pretended like it was fine, and placed it back on the table.

There was a weird taste behind it, but he put it down to being a different type of coffee and an unfamiliar brand of milk. Yeah, that's all it was.

"You made a call to our tip line? Saying you had saw something important related to our case about the pregnant women getting kidnapped?" Hotch urged him on, and Jimmy gave a nod. "Do you care to tell us what that is?"

"Yeah, I saw a man, a few nights back, on my drive home. He was by that lake. Seemed to be walking up from it. He said that his car had broken down. I believed him, right until you found that woman in the lake." Hotch gave a nod.

"Do you know what this man looked like?" He prompted.

"Well, it was dark. But he was most definitely white, and wasn't from this area." Jimmy told him.

"What tells you that?" Hotch passed him a confused look.

"He spoke with a thick southern accent. Nothing that we would find around here." Hotch gave a nod.

"Is that all you managed to get? Not a plate or anything?" Jimmy shook his head.

"It really was dark, and I wasn't suspicious of anything until I saw that news report an hour or so ago."

Hotch began to stand up.

"Okay then, well, call us if you remember anything else." His words were slightly slurred.

"Oh, I sure will..." There was a pause, in which he saw Hotch begin to get dizzy. Reaching for his gun, he fumbled, and before he could get it out, he passed out on the floor.

"Idiot." Jimmy cursed, and shuffled the gun out of it's holster. He also took away his handcuffs and badge. Then, he began doing his search. Patting down all of his body. His hands stopped at his leg. "Ah, another one." He took that gun away too, and carried on with his search, until he was satisfied there was nothing else there.

Opening the cell phone up, he noted that Hotch had gotten the address texted to him by someone else of the name 'Jennifer Jareau.' Then he knew he was not safe. When they realise the Agent had gone missing, this would be the first place they would look for him.

In a frantic state of panic, he began to lumber Hotch out into his own car, forcing him onto the backseat and handcuffing him to the door. There was a part of him that told him this was stupid, and the second the Agent woke up, he would beat him and run away. That part of him made him grab more of the chloroform and another cloth, forcing some into his face to ensure he was knocked out for a while. Then he slipped it under the seat.

When he re-entered the house, he headed straight for the staircase leading to the basement. When he opened the door, he found a terrified Elle, frantically breathing through a pain. A malicious smile played on his lips.

"Ah, that baby seems to know my plan all too well." He laughed. "I didn't even need to induce the labour on you. Not like those other women." He laughed. Pulling her to her feet. "Now walk." He ordered, and forced her up the stairs.

Each step for Elle was painful, but she made it to the top eventually, and as she did, the contraction ended.

"Get into the car." She did as she was told, a gun now pointed at her.

A look of confusion came over her as she wondered why the sudden change in profile. He had not threatened her with a weapon before... something must have startled him. Then it dawned on her, as she slipped into the car seat, and little easier than before. The man, sitting next to her.

"Hotch." She gave a saddened look, which turned to concern when she realised he was unconscious. Looking him over, she realised that there seemed to be nothing physical wrong with him.

"Ah, friend I see?" He teased her. Closing the door and getting into the drivers seat.

"What have you done to him?" She asked, a little more frantic than before.

"Oh, he'll be fine. He should be waking up soon." Without another word, he began to drive, back down the road they had just came up.

Groaning, Elle felt another contraction fill from her lower back. Her hand tightened on her stomach and she tried to steady her breathing.

"Baby, you got to stay in there a little longer. Please, listen to me." It was quite amusing, Elle knew the baby was stubborn, and already knew when she wanted something she got it. But this time, wanting it and getting it would result in her death, and she had no clue what would happen to the baby.

"There isn't a chance it's going to stop, Elle." He taunted her. "So just embrace the ride." He gave her an evil smirk that made her sick to her stomach.

"Not a chance in hell." Jimmy shrugged.

"That's your choice."

There was a small part of her that was grateful for the fact Hotch was there. He would be there with her. At least she did not have to do this with a psycho. She would rather have done it alone than with him. But at least now she would have her old boss with her. That was, if he actually woke up.

.

"Officer Rice." Someone called in through the doors, and it seemed like the whole room froze, all looking to the other officer.

"Yeah?" He asked, almost on the edge of his seat, which no one had missed.

"Um…" It was clear that the Officer delivering the bad news was nervous with what he was saying. "Hayes went to look for her, it seems like her car is there, guns, badge, handcuffs. But she is no where to be found."

Tentatively the team watched his reaction, and the burying of his face in his hand accompanied by the force of his fist against the table told them, this was pretty bad.

"Is she completely missing?" Another nod came from the Agent. "We need to call Mark, and get a search out for her. She can't be the next victim… Mark will kill me if she is."

A startled Agent nodded and frantically left the room.

"Next victim?" Prentiss pressed him.

All of the team around the table seemed to lean in a little closer.

"Officer Greenaway…"

Morgan shook his head. It had to be a coincidence.

"Greenaway?" He asked, what he knew everyone was thinking.

"Yeah, Elle Greenaway. She used to work with you didn't she?" They all let out a huff.

"You need to fill us in on everything." Rossi asked, knowing he and Prentiss were the only ones who were now thinking straight. Knowing they all previously had a connection to Elle.

"'Fill you in'?" His eyebrows raised in panic.

"Yeah. Have you spoken to her today?" Giving a nod as a reply, they urged him to go further.

"I called her and said we'd be out here. She said she was on her way, but I tried to convince her to stay home, knowing if she got wrapped up in another week long case there was no way in hell she'd go on maternity leave." It then dawned on the team… Elle was pregnant. It would have been good news, if it was not linked with such tragedy.

"When did you notice she was missing?" Asked an even more confused Prentiss.

"About an hour ago. She was supposed to turn up an hour and a half ago, but I figured there could have been traffic delays, so I put off the search for her. Then I sent Officer Hayes back to trace her steps and see if she had gone home or something." Now Morgan gave a groan. Pressing some buttons on the phone in the middle of the table.

"What can the mistress of lust offer today?" Came the charming voice of Penelope Garcia.

"Garcia." She immediately sat up, not liking that Morgan tone.

"What's wrong? What's happened?" They could already tell she was getting upset.

"I need you to keep a tab on Elle's credit cards and her cell. See if you can trace anything if she uses either." Morgan ordered.

"…Sure… Elle? As in Greenaway?" There was doubt in her voice.

"Yeah. But don't worry. She'll be fine. You know Elle's a fighter. Besides, if she gets a shot, he'll be dead before he can blink." Morgan made a light joke and heard Garcia give a small laugh.

"Alright. I'll call you if I get anything." The phone hung up, just as the door flew open.

"Where the hell is she?" Everyone was confused, but Johnny stood up.

"Mark, we don't know. Her car's been found." Tears welled up in the other man's eyes, that they now knew was Mark.

"I swear, if we don't find her before something happens, I will kill you." The threat was an empty one. A threat so many people had made on their off days. But his anger, and the fact he was wearing a gun, made it all the more serious.

"Mark, she will be fine." He tried to calm him, by slowing down his frantic words. "We have the BAU in, and we both know if anyone can find her, they will." Elle's husband gave a teary nod.

"The BAU?" There was the partial distraction.

Looking around the room, he found everyone sitting at the table.

"Sir." Prentiss gave a nod as he went to shake her hand when she sat back down.

"Elle always spoke so highly about all of you. She said there was no better team." He gave a laugh at the thought, "We always told her that if she loved it so much she should go back." He gave a gulp, and a watery smile at the memory.

"We will find her Officer…"

"Sanders. Mark Sanders. Elle's husband."

Morgan gave a light smirk, Elle was married with a baby on the way. God he never thought he would see the day Elle Greenaway would settle down. He would find her, and then tease her to no end when she was fine again.

"Never expected her to get married." Morgan imputed, Mark gave a shrug.

"Neither did any of us… But one thing lead to another. She's an amazing woman." Another breathy laugh left his lungs.

"We need to go over everything Elle has done the past few weeks. He must have been watching her." JJ told him, finally recovering from the shock.

"You think she knows him?" A shocked look crossed his face.

"Not fully. We think he's been watching her. It can't be just a coincidence that the woman's car he happened to stop was a pregnant Officer. He must have known all of this." Mark gave a nod.

"I'll believe whatever you think." He looked down as he mumbled, "Elle would have wanted me to."

"Don't talk like that. We're going to get her and that baby home safely to you. You need to believe that." Rossi placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Of course." He tried to give himself a small smile and another nice memory, "I swear I'll never tease her again for having all of those newspapers and reports on you guys. If you find her, hell, I'll probably begin doing the same." Reid now looked up, thinking, creepy.

"News reports and files?" He asked, kind of timidly.

"Yeah, she likes to keep up with everything. I think she gets a thrill out of knowing you're all safe."

All three agents that remembered Elle gave a small smile.

"We will find her." Morgan repeated again, for the last time before they started to ask him a ton of questions.


	3. Chapter Three

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**Now here is your update, apologies for the lateness, I promised the update on Sunday to the reviewers and I have been stuck at a family Christening all day. So I got this up at twenty to twelve (in the UK), so I hope it is still Sunday in America or where ever you are. **

**This update is for all of you, even the secret people reading this and enjoying it but not reviewing it. **

**Chapter Three**

Elle's eyes looked to the clock carefully displayed in the car and she tried to plot out the time in her mind; she had already noted it down when she first got in the car. There was a some relief that washed over her when she realised that she had not had a 'contraction' in a good twenty five minutes. Her mind kept telling her that it was a false alarm. It had to be.

Letting her brown eyes fall from the clock, she looked to the still unconscious form of her ex-boss. A small smile played on her lips as she saw he had not changed at all. Yeah, he looked a little older, as to be expected, but he was still in his suit pants, and jacket, wearing a tie and looking very serious, even when passed out. Doing a scan of his body, she once again tried to check if he was hurt by anything more than the drugs Jimmy had given him. There seemed to be nothing. But maybe he had a concussion and she could not tell.

Then she noticed the silver metal attaching him to the car door and she gave a small huff. Even if she could manage to get out of this moving car alive, Hotch would still by stuck in it. She tried to remember where he kept the handcuff keys, but knew it was stupid to even look for them, as Jimmy would never have left them there if he knew they could escape. There was no chance in hell.

Then she gave a sigh. Knowing, even if Hotch and her could get out, both of them were worse for wear, and without guns. Hotch probably would not be over the effects of the drugs, making fighting the psycho a little more dangerous. And, even if they managed to, neither of them had a cell, and there was not a chance in hell she was going to make this walk, especially with that bowling ball of a stomach.

Dropping her eyes back down onto her stomach, she gave another sigh. Knowing she needed to keep her baby safe. Her little girl. Her little girl that needed a name.

Mentally she began running through possible names in her head, trying anything to distract herself from the impending doom.

Lilly? She knew Mark always liked that name, and so had she. A small smile came to her face.

Robin. Well that was an almost definite middle name anyway. It was one of the few things they had decided on with this baby. Robin would be her middle name in honour of Elle's father.

But not all decisions had came that easy to them.

There had been the quite small argument of what colour to paint the little girls nursery. He wanted it to be pink. Purple at a push. Elle wanted something less generic. Something that would not force her little girl to like a certain colour. And, after a crying and emotional hormonal-fest, he succumbed and let her have her way. The room was now a brown and cream mess, that he hated. But it would soon be changed when the baby displayed interest in a colour.

The baby's room was far from complete. She knew that. The crib was almost finished. The bassinette had not even been taken out of it's box. Clothes still lay in their bags, and the wardrobe, changing table and everything else that was essential were still at the shop, waiting to be delivered. Well, that was not good. But that was what her maternity leave was for. She was going to get some of them done during the day times, with the help of a neighbour across the road, all in time for the baby's arrival in four weeks.

But Elle Greenaway had never stuck to a plan, and she wondered why she ever thought that this baby would too.

Giving a small laugh, one that Jimmy could not hear, she tenderly bit her lip. Letting her hand fall onto her stomach, she reminded herself to keep her stress levels down. Knowing that if they rose too high she would almost certainly go into premature labour.

Then it dawned on her that it was too late for that. As she involuntary bit her lower lip as a pain wrapped itself around her lower back and to her abdomen.

It hurt. God, it did. But she would not cry out. Elle only knew that would make it ten times worse. She would not let the psycho see her like that. So instead, she held her breath, and tried to think of other times she had been in far worse pain... She was shot. That hurt more, she reminded herself. Then there was the time she was beaten up when she first came to Georgia... And then the hostage situation on the train. Her cheek stung when she remembered that day. But that pain was not worse than the pain she was experiencing now.

She gave a smile as she thought about when she broke her wrist, doing some stupid thing her brother's challenged her to do.

When she fractured her leg jumping off of the tree in the backyard...

Her thoughts were snatched away from her as she heard his voice.

"It's better if you breathe through it. The pain will be a lot less... Trust me." He quirked, with a venomous smile.

Elle only glared back at him, and finally let the breath she was holding go as the pain left her body.

"Twenty four minutes." He noted. "It seems that this baby is taking it's time. But, no worries. I like it better when it lasts longer." She cringed at his words.

"What the hell do you want?" She finally asked, all to angry, although she knew it was her letting out the pain from the contraction.

"I told you what I want. I want that baby of yours... That's all I ever want." Jimmy remained calm and collected, never once even looking at her with a hint of a psycho glance. It only made her more terrified.

"You will never get my baby." She gave him a warning glare.

"You no longer have a say in that matter, Elle, that baby is coming, not matter how much you tell yourself it is not. And I will soon have it in my arms."

Elle never dared to look into the mirror to see his glances, instead she kept looking from the back of the chair to the still unconscious Hotch. Tentatively picking at her fingernails.

There was a worry lingering in her body, one she would never have thought she would feel. A worry that her baby could be taken right from within her. Her baby will never see her father's eyes, or she would never get to hold her.

Pushing it all back into one of the many boxes she had created in her mind over the years, she glanced sideways to see Hotch starting to wake up. All of the worries slipped away and she knew there was an actual chance of getting out of this mess.

A hazy fog formed over Hotch's eyes and mind as he began to wake up. He began to wonder where the hell he was, and how he had gotten there. There was a familiar feeling of a car moving, but the last thing he remembered was passing out, cold, on that man's floor. Then it dawned on him. The foul tasting coffee, it was drugged. Raising his hand to wipe the haze away, his arm was restricted by the pull of a metal handcuff. Then he panicked.

Snapping the two eyes open with haste, he looked around the car. Jimmy was driving. Never a good thing. Then it dawned on him, the presence next to him. A vulnerable looking, heavily pregnant Elle Greenaway was there.

"Elle?" He asked. She replied by laying a hand on the top of his arm.

"God, Hotch. Are you okay?" Asked a concerned Elle. Hotch gave her a groan.

"Yeah, I'm fine. We should be worrying about you. Are you okay?" With his eyes he began to check her over, not missing the way her arms wrapped, folded over her chest. She must feel so exposed.

"I'm fine. Don't worry. Are you sure you're okay? Did he knock you out?" Hotch shook his head.

"No. He drugged me in my drink. But it's fine. Only a small headache." Eyebrows creased on his forehead as he analysed the way she was quickly shoving the attention off of herself and onto him. Something must have been wrong. "Ell-" His words were cut short as she began to speak again.

"Funny meeting you here, hey?" She gave a small joke, but her arms never unfolded, which told him she was seriously uncomfortable.

"Not exactly good circumstances to be meeting over." He replied, and saw Elle give a slight nod. His eyes now fell onto her stomach. "You're pregnant." He said, and never missed the look she gave him, that told him he was stating the obvious. "Never in a million years did I expect to see Elle Greenaway as a mother." He smiled somewhat, trying to ease her discomfort. But it never happened.

"Thanks." It sounded as if his words had hurt her, more than comforted her. And that was the last thing he wanted.

"I didn't mean it like that, Elle. I just never expected to see you as the settling down type. But you seem to have done so." He said, her eyes fell from his again as she replied:

"Yeah, I've changed a lot since then." She said.

"I am glad you did. We miss you, you know." Elle gave a small nod. "You could have came back." He told her, but this time she shook her head.

"I couldn't. You know that. It was all too much for me. But I am happy now. Married, with a daughter on the way. Everything is finally falling into place." Hotch gave her one of his rare dimples.

"I can see. Married, ay? He is one lucky man." Elle gave a small nod and a smile. "Daughter?" He raised his eyebrows.

"Yeah. It's a little girl." There was a lingering bit of doubt in her voice, one Hotch hated. No one should ever have to fear for their child's life. Not like this.

"I am going to get you out of here, Elle. The team is." She gave a small nod.

"I know you are." There was a bigger doubt in her voice, but he shrugged it off by getting his other hand and resting it on her shoulder.

"I promise. Just focus on keeping calm. We really don't need you going into labour right now." There was a hint of a joke, that Elle fake laughed away.

"Sure."

Jimmy, who was still focused on driving, was listening to their words with a hint of amusement. Knowing that this was getting more and more interesting as time went on. He could not wait until Hotch figured out it was too late. Then the real fun would begin. But for now, all that mattered was getting them to their first location.

.

"Who did she hang around with in the past few weeks?" Morgan asked, with a pen and notepad in front of him.

"Just people from the police station. The other officers, she did have a doctors appointment a few days ago, so her OBGYN. Er..." He began to think, "She saw her brother a few days ago as well." Morgan nodded, and let Johnny pass him over a file with all of the officers that worked there in.

"Thanks." He passed it over to Prentiss who was doing a security check with Garcia. "Anyone else? Anyone at all?"

"There's the man across the street. He's been helping us get the nursery done and we baby sit their kids sometimes. George Butler." Morgan noted it down.

"Alright. Any one else at all?" He gave a shake of his head.

"No one really. She doesn't seem to go anywhere. I go the grocery shop and that, all she does is come to work and to the hospital when it's needed." Morgan gave another nod.

"She does keep stopping at small gas stations." Johnny said from the doorway, and Mark looked up to him. "Every time she needs to go to the toilet and that. Which is quite a lot as of recently." JJ now nodded, understanding completely, knowing how hard it was to have a baby pressed on your bladder for all of that time.

"Do we know the man who works there?" Morgan asked, and Johnny shook his head.

"No, but I always keep going in with her. Ever since she said he was looking at her a bit creepily." Mark's eyes shot up.

"And she didn't tell me?" He snapped.

"Come on, Mark. She's an attractive lady, and of course he was going to look at her weird. I went through all of the precautions to make sure, if she needed to, she wouldn't be left alone. Just in case." Mark gave a small sigh, still not pleased with either Johnny and Elle.

"I would like to go there." Rossi now said.

"Of course." Johnny replied. "I can drive you there. It's a few miles away." Rossi gave a nod.

"Sure. Come on Reid." All three men stood from their seats to walk out of the door, and to their cars.


	4. Chapter Four

**Argh, massive apologies again, it seems I can never update on time. Although, this time it is completely not my fault, the internet at home has not been working since Friday. I had to come down to my Auntie's today to update the story for you guys.**

**Hopefully the internet is back up soon and you will get your update soon, although, the way AOL seems to be going, that is not going to happen.**

**Thanks anyway, for the reviews, I really appreciate them although I might not have PMed you a thanks due to the internet. **

**Anywho, here's the next bit:**

**Chapter Four**

Elle had been keeping track during the drive, trying to pinpoint exactly where they were. But eventually, everything begun to merge into one and then she was completely lost. Giving up the idea of watching each tree, looking for a sign, and instead she looked to the clock again... It had been another twenty four minutes. She knew what was going to come. But how the hell was she going to hide that from the man next to her that was watching her like a hawk.

"Hotch, did you see that?" She asked, it was a long shot. A frickin' far off long shot. But it worked, as his attention was drawn to the window.

"See what?" He asked.

Elle never managed to reply. Biting on her lower lip again, and pressing her hand back onto her stomach. She held her breath to stop herself from crying out with the immense pain. Her eyes soon shut, and she felt herself lurch forward. Unable to stop the groan that left her mouth. It seemed her distraction only lasted for a moment, as she felt Hotch's hand on her back and his worrying words.

"Elle, what is it? What's wrong?" She gave a shake of her head, to tell him it was nothing to worry about. "Elle!" He said a little more forcefully. There was still no answer from the brunette, so he looked up and caught eyes with Jimmy in the rear-view mirror. "What the hell have you done to her?" He asked, with a boss like tone.

"Me?" He laughed, breathily. "It's nature taking it's course." There was a small laugh as he saw Hotch's startled look.

"God." He gave a small groan.

"Mother Nature. More like." Jimmy smirked. "Elle, you might want to breathe through it. You won't last pretty long if you keep holding your breath." He taunted her.

"Shut up, Jimmy. Let her out, and just take me." He almost begged.

"Oh the great Agent Hotchner, begging to be taken. Always the hero. Not this time." He laughed, again. "I'll be back." There was a moment where Hotch had only just realised that the car had actually stopped. In the middle of an abandoned field. There seemed to be nothing for miles around. "Don't try anything stupid, Agent Hotchner. Officer Greenaway won't get very far." There was another evil laugh from him. Jimmy got out of the car and he checked that Hotch was still handcuffed to the door before pointing to a blanket by the back seat. "Make her comfortable. Wouldn't want this to be worse than it already has to be." Then he locked the car and double checked they really could not get out.

Hotch watched him for a moment, before looking back to Elle, who was slowly sitting back up.

"You okay?" He asked, but it was a stupid question. There was not a chance in hell she was okay. Now, not only was she kidnapped, she was in labour.

"I'll be fine." She told him, giving him a shaky smile.

Hotch flashed her a reassuring smile back, before he grabbed the blanket and threw it over her body.

"You just need to stay calm." He told her.

"How Hotch? There is no chance in hell we're getting out of here! I'll have this baby, and we'll both be dead, and she'll never see her daddy!" Hotch fought the urge to wipe away one of her tears, instead he just sighed. At least she was letting it all out.

"The team is looking, okay, they'll find both of us, and you two till be fine." Hotch reassured her, "They're still as amazing as they ever where. I promise." He gave a reassuring rub on her arms. "Now, did he give you anything? Did he induce the labour?" Elle shook her head.

"He knocked me out... I think with chloroform, but I think this is all stress." She told him.

"Okay then, this could all be a false alarm, then. I need you to seriously stay calm. Leave all of the worrying down to me, okay. Just focus on deep breaths. And if it is false, then that's fine. But if it's not, I would rather no know." Elle gave an understanding nod and took a deep breath. "Your waters haven't broken or anything, have they?" She gave a shake of her head. "Okay, that's good."

Then the car fell into silence, as Elle got herself a little more comfortable on the seat, fixing the blanket over her. Both of her hands fell onto her stomach.

"Thank you." She timidly said, looking up to him. He could see the small smile lingering in her eyes.

"Don't worry about it." He gave her a small smile. Then resumed looking around the car for a cell or a way out.

"It's no use. He's taken our cells, guns and he has locked the doors." Hotch gave a defeated nod, thumping back in his seat.

"Don't panic." He told her, again, hoping to keep her calm.

"I won't."

There was a short moment where he wondered whether doing this was right. He knew he could probably break the handcuffs, smash the window and get out. But that meant leaving Elle behind. There was a soft gulp, as he thought over everything. Would he want some man leaving Haley behind if she was kidnapped and in labour? He gave a shake of her head. No. That was decided then. If Elle could not get out, he was not leaving either.

"How's Jack?" Came the quiet words of Elle, and he knew she was just trying to keep her mind occupied. Keeping herself from worrying too much. Turning to face her, he flashed her a dimple.

"He's doing great. Started a new school the other month. Seems to be fitting in well and making a lot of friends." He told her.

"Good." Elle gave a small laugh. "And Haley?" The second she saw his face drop, she knew she had asked something stupid and personal. "Sorry, I shouldn't of asked." She said, but Hotch shook his head.

"No, it's fine..." He took a deep breath, "She was killed a few months ago." Elle's face dropped, as did his.

"Hotch, oh God, I'm so sorry." He shook his head, shaking the emotions away.

"Don't worry. You weren't to know."

"I shouldn't have asked." She closed her eyes, and took a deep breath.

"It's okay, Elle. Don't worry about it, just stay focused on your baby at the moment, alright? Just keep thinking about that small little girl you're going to be holding in a few days." His hand rested on her knee as Elle gave a timid nod. Then he had to think of other things to say to keep her distracted, ones that were not so personal towards his own life. "Do you have any names for her yet?" He asked, and knew it was the right question to have asked, as she smiled when she looked up. Yes, Elle Greenaway had become a conventional pregnant woman. One that loved to discuss baby names, the nursery and morning sickness. Not that he had personal experience with the latter. He was barely there for Haley's.

"Not really. We know we want her middle name to be Robin." She paused.

"After your dad, Robert, right?" He remembered reading all about that incident in her file.

"Yeah." Elle nodded.

"It is a beautiful name." He gave her a smile. "Is she getting your last name?" He asked, not really sure what her husbands name was, or even who he was. For all he knew, he was totally wrong for Elle. But the way she smiled when she spoke about him, he was right for her, and it seemed that they were head over heels for each other.

"Oh, we haven't really spoken about it. We think Sanders, after Mark, but we aren't sure really. When we have her first name we will know." She told him, and Hotch gave a nod. Mentally noting to make Garcia check the background on Mark Sanders.

"But you're married?" He asked, and Elle held up her hand to show him the rings.

"As of 18th June 2010." She gave a small laugh. "I didn't want to change my name, though. I guess Greenaway holds a little more ground over people." She gave another laugh.

"Oh yeah." Hotch nudged her lightly. "So, I don't think pink would be your colour, what did you paint the nursery?" He asked, "Or have you even done one yet? Miss Workaholic."

Elle gave him a big smile, a genuine smile. The smile he had missed since he had last saw her those years ago.

"Cream. We painted it cream and brown to match the furniture." Now Hotch laughed, despite the nagging worry in the back of his mind.

"You're too easy to read, Elle." She laughed. "Have you put everything together yet?" She shook her head.

"We were going to start tomorrow. When I started my maternity leave. But it seems like we won't have time to put anything up, and half of it is still at the shop." She informed him.

"I'll have to bring Jack down when she is born. I am sure he would love to meet you, and her." Elle gave a nod.

"I'd love that."

"Good." He watched as her eyes shifted back onto the clock. Twenty four minutes again. It was coming back. "Elle, what's wrong?" He asked.

Her body tensed and she creased into herself with a groan. Holding her breath.

"God." Hotch realised it was far too late. This really was happening now, and that little girl was as stubborn as her mother. "Okay, you need to breath. Pant through it. Just like they taught at your classes."

"I didn't go to classes." She said, through a cry of pain. Hotch was glad it had at least got her to breathe.

"Okay, well we're going to have a short one now." Then he began to teach her some breathing techniques, that Elle was glad for. Lessening the pain slightly. "Good. You're doing great. Keep on doing that. Hee-Hee-Ho."

Elle would have laughed, if she was not in so much pain. Never did she think she would see the day, serious, boss man, unshakable Aaron Hotchner was panting and almost panicking. It was hilarious. If someone was to tell her that morning she would have been seeing this, she would never have believed it. But it was happening. And soon, the pain stopped and her body unfolded from the tightening it was in. Her eyes caught onto Hotch's and she could not even see his mask, covering the panic he was in.

"Good." He said.

Then Elle looked down.

"God, I'm so sorry." She apologised.

"No, Elle, this isn't your fault. You're daughter is as stubborn as you are, and she's decided she is coming, there is nothing we can do to stop that. Now, you still need to keep calm, alright, it definitely will not be good for the baby if you are stressed. It'll just make everything worse. I will focus on getting us out of here." He snuck a glance at the clock, and Elle knew what he was doing.

"They're all been twenty four minutes apart, so far." She told him, and he gave a nod.

"At least she is giving us some time to get out of here." Elle nodded, and the worry on her face only made him grow more anxious. They needed to get out of here. And they needed to do so soon.


	5. Chapter Five

**Well, guys, lack of response on the last chapter told me that I have obviously done something wrong. I know I got the message, but I would rather appreciate it if you gave me feedback, bad or good, regarding this chapter.**

**Please?**

**I say a big thanks to **_**ManhattanStreetLights **_**who was the only person to review. **

**Thank you so much. This chapter is specially for you. :)**

**Chapter Five**

"JJ, call Hotch." Morgan said, from where he was still working at the table. Checking the files of all of the people from the list.

"I'll try, isn't he with that witness?" Morgan gave her a nod.

Slipping her phone from her pocket, she dialled Hotch's number. Then there was silence.

"He's not picking up." JJ informed them. Now Prentiss' ears perked up.

"What?" She asked, but they all knew she heard JJ clearly the first time.

"Alright. JJ, you and Prentiss go to the address for the witness. I'll keep going through these with Officer Sanders." The two girls nodded, knowing that they already had an ex-agent in trouble, and they did not need any more problems.

As fast as they could walk, both JJ and Prentiss got into the car, with Prentiss in the driving seat.

"Address?" She asked, switching the sat-nav on and waiting for JJ to read her the address. When she finally told her, she gave a huff as the sat-nav told her they were in for a bit off a drive. "Ready?" She looked to JJ, as she put her sunglasses on and watched the blonde put on her seat belt before pulling out of the police station.

.

As they pulled into the drive of the gas station, the first thing all three men noticed was the fact it was boarded up, and there was a sign in the window, that clearly stated the place was closed.

"That's not good." Rossi said, putting his sunglasses on and climbing out of the car.

"Do you think we can get in there?" Reid asked, coming to stand next to Rossi.

"Without a warrant?" Johnny shook his head at them. "But I can try and see if he's left a window or something open. Give us an easy way in." Rossi gave a nod of approval before letting him walk off around the back of the station.

Now David Rossi's attention was fully on Dr. Spencer Reid at his side, who he had noticed, became more quiet and far more fidgety since they found out about Elle's disappearance.

"What's worrying you?" He watched as Reid's eyes surveyed the scene, not once looking into Rossi's.

"Nothing's wrong with me." Answered Reid, rather quickly.

"Reid." Rossi said the boys name, yet he never once looked at him. "Ever since we found out about Elle going missing, you have been distant. Quiet, and far more fidgety than I have ever seen." He informed him. Now the younger boy's eyes fell onto his, and he would have noticed the glare if it was not for the sunglasses both of them wore.

"Stop profiling me." Was all he said.

"Tell me what's wrong and I wouldn't need to." He knew he had won the boy over as he took a deep breath and looked off into the distance again.

"I don't think she'll be able to come back from this." He finally said.

"What do you mean?" Questioned Rossi.

"Last time… Everything changed. She was different, then she panicked. And none of us can save her. If that happened just because a man broke into her house and shot her, God knows what she is going to be like after she has been kidnapped." He looked to the ground and Rossi followed his gaze, watching Reid shuffle his feet in some of the dust.

"She will make it. She's stronger than that." He reassured Reid.

"Yeah? How do you know?" Reid asked, not meeting his looks again.

"Because she is going to be a mom. She will stay strong for that little baby. Things change when you become a parent." Reid gave a nod and he saw that he was not going to say anything more on the matter. "Now let's see where Officer Rice has gone." Reid nodded and they began to walk around the place.

.

"Where the hell is he?" Elle grumbled, after another ten minutes had passed.

"I don't know. But at least it gives us a little more time to get out of here." Hotch answered, looking the now terrified woman in the eyes. "Elle, don't worry, alright. I promise we will get out of here safely. You will be going straight to the hospital, and then you're going to have your baby girl in your arms." He watched her closely, and analysed her small nod. There was no chance she was believing his word. "You might not believe that, but I promise we will get out of this. All you need to focus on right now is that baby. Keep calm." This time she gave more of a powerful nod. "Good. Now we can't get out right now. Even if I can manage to get out of these handcuffs, there isn't a chance in Hell you would be able to walk. But trust me, I am getting us out of here." His hand came to rest on Elle's leg. Then the car fell into silence once more.

The silence was short lived as Hotch looked around the car for a way out. There seemed to be no houses for at least a good few miles, and he had left the car right in the middle of an open field, so whatever he was actually doing, he could see exactly what was going on. That still left them with absolutely no way out. He eyed up the handcuffs on his arm, and tried to asses what he could do with them on, and, a way to get them off. The moment was short lived as he saw Elle give out another groan. Frantically, he looked at the clock. Twenty four minutes once again. At least this baby was precise.

"Okay, Elle. Deep breaths." He coached her again. His hand reached as best it could to her back, and he began to knead it. Knowing that was what Haley had found relieving when she was having Jack. "You're doing great, Elle. You're doing an amazing job." He sounded like he was cheering a football team on, and it was almost comical. Eventually, her panting stopped and she felt herself relax again. Hotch's hand fell from her back and came back to rest on her knee.

"Better?" He asked, and Elle gave a small nod. "Why don't you try and rest for a bit? You look tired." He informed her.

"Thanks." She gave him a comment, along with a small sarcastic smile, before she lightly nudged him. "I don't think I could sleep, even if I tried." He nodded, understanding perfectly.

"Fine then." He bit his lower lip, a sure sign that told Elle he was worrying to. Normally she would have found it amusing, if not comforting that her ex-boss was in the same position as she was, but today, it only made her more panic stricken. Instead, her mind wondered through ways of distracting herself. Anything to keep herself calm and the baby healthy. She told herself.

"How is everyone?" She finally asked, and Hotch's head snapped up, almost startled by her voice.

"They're fine." He answered, short, snappy. Elle's eyebrow quirked up, and she gave him a 'don't lie to me' look.

"I have read the papers you know. I know all about Reid's kidnapping. Gideon leaving. Garcia getting shot. Morgan's arrest. What the hell has happened?" She asked and Hotch gave a sigh.

"Obviously, you've just said what happened." Elle gave him another look. "You don't need to worry about any of those problems at the moment. Just focus on yourself." He still was not convincing her.

"I am focused on myself, and the only way I know to keep the panic down is to discuss something completely different." She gave a small shrug, and he gave her a light smile. "So how is everyone, really?" The smile on his face fell again as he began reeling all the things off of his list that had happened.

"When you left, we got a new member on the team, Emily Prentiss." He informed her, and Elle gave a nod. "She is amazing…" Then he snapped, "At her job, of course." Elle's lips quirked up seeing his mistake.

"I bet she is. It would take a downright amazing woman to fill my place." She nudged him and Hotch gave a small laugh.

"She is." He almost went off in a trance as he remembered her face, her hair, her smile. Beautiful.

"Someone's falling for a subordinate!" Elle teased, giving him a big smirk.

"Never." Was all he answered. "I would not do that with a subordinate. Strauss would have my head."

"But you'd like to." She pulled a tongue at him and he shot her a look. "Fine, go on."

"And then there was an incident… and an UnSub's house. We thought he was a witness. JJ and Reid split up… He kidnapped Reid. Gave him a ton of drugs." His words slowly fell at the memory of it all.

"I know where this is going…" She told him, and he looked up in surprise. "But he is fine, right? He got out of them?" Hotch gave a nod.

"Most definitely." He replied, and Elle gave a satisfied nod.

"How's JJ? I mean, she must blame herself for leaving him and splitting up." Hotch gave a nod.

"I don't think she's really forgiven herself yet. But we don't really talk about it any more. She has a son." He informed her, and Elle's smile grew.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. Henry. He is almost two." Hotch told her.

"Is she married?" Elle asked, and Hotch's head quickly shook.

"No. But Will is a nice guy. They seem good together." She nodded.

"Morgan? What happened over his arrest in Chicago?" Hotch avoided her eyes, knowing this was a sensitive topic for Morgan.

"There were some kids, they were all getting killed. It turned out to be the man who owned the youth centre so they let Morgan off." Was all he told her, and, although she seemed far from satisfied with his answer, she just gave a nod and left it there. That's what he liked about Elle. She left things, sometimes for the better.

"I heard Garcia was shot." She informed him and he nodded.

"Yeah. But she is fine. She's doing fine, and the man that shot her is gone… JJ shot him. But she is over that too." Elle nodded.

"What happened with Gideon?" She asked, and then added, "I know he left, but… why? He seemed to be doing good."

"He was, but his friend was murdered, and he couldn't do it any more. It was the final push for him." She gave an understanding nod. Knowing that sometimes the only way for profilers to truly leave the BAU was either because they were forced out, or because they burned out. Like her. "What happened with you? When you left?" Hotch now asked, knowing this conversation was turning back around to the fact he would soon have to explain his wife's death, and his shooting.

"Me?" She gave a breathy laugh through her nose. "I travelled around for a while. Tried to get everything back on track. Eventually I had a breakdown, in the pouring rain with my brother. How cliché, right?" She gave him a small smirk, but he looked far from amused. "And then I moved here. Got a good job as an Officer. It kept me under control, and it was a nine to five job, always a plus." Now he gave a laugh, imagining how good it would be to sleep for once. "And then everything started to slot into place here. I got with Mark, we got married and then I got pregnant. It was almost too good to leave." He gave her a big smile.

"It sounds amazing." He smirked, imagining the life he longed to have, A life back with Haley and Jack. But that would not happen.

"It is." She gave him a small smile, knowing exactly what he was thinking about.

"Don't you miss us?" He asked, with a hint of a joke, trying to cover up his pain. Elle ignored the action, knowing fully well he would want her to.

"Miss you? God, every day. Mark tried to convince me to go back, but you know I can't." He gave a nod, fully knowing she could not.

"You know, even if you don't work with us anymore. We're your friends. You can call, or, when you're in town come and visit us." She gave him a light smile and a nod.

"What are the chances that when I'm in town, you guys are there to?" She teased, "I remember that job all to well. All of the flying around. Week long cases. You always claimed to have another team." Elle rolled her eyes, "As if you did." He gave her a smile back.

"We really do. But their life is mostly paperwork." He informed her.

"If I'd known that I would have been slipping them my files instead of Reid." He rolled his eyes.

"Reason one of why I never told you that." She gave a laugh.

"I don't blame you."

Then the car fell into the comfortable silence Hotch welcomed. Knowing it gave him a chance to think of a way to break away from the psycho, and it also gave Elle a chance to rest her eyes. From time to time he would glance at the clock, just to make sure her contractions were not getting faster, well, dangerously faster.

.

As their SUV pulled up into the home of Jimmy Cooper, the first thing the girls noticed was the fact Hotch's SUV was still in front of the barn. That was not good.

Emily parked next to his car, and both women got out.

"Don't split up." She reminded her. Knowing JJ would have been a little too worried considering they were back on a farm, looking for another 'witness'.

"Okay." She answered. And both of them began to look in the windows of Hotch's car. No one was in there.

When Emily tried the door handle the door easily opened. That only made them worry more.

"Barn." She said, taking her gun from her holder, she held it close, and pushed the barn doors.

As the light flooded into the barn, they could see that he there was nothing in there. No animals. Nothing. It was just an empty barn. A collective sigh left them as they knocked on the front door and waited… No answer… And they knocked again. When there was no answer that time, they opened the door, and found it was unlocked. Both began to walk into each room and clear them. Then JJ spotted it on the floor.

"Em." She said, and the brunette walked into the room, almost in a panic. Her worry grew as she saw Hotch's cell and badge on the floor.

Her eyes looked to the coffee cup on the table, they was still barely touched, and she slowly began to piece it together.

"I think we've just found our prime suspect… And I think he's got Hotch." She said, pulling her cell from her pocket.

JJ gave an exasperated sigh as she threw her hands onto her head in frustration.

"Oh God. How could we have been so stupid." She said.

"We weren't, okay. Hotch came here alone. To interview a witness. We couldn't have known." Prentiss sighed, and heard Morgan's voice come over the phone. "Morgan, it's Prentiss. We need everyone down here… and bring a CSI team with you… Hotch's car is here. So is his cell, but he's gone. We think Jimmy Cooper took him… Yeah, he might have Elle too… Okay, see you soon." She hung up. "He told us to sit tight. They would be here in no longer than twenty minutes."

JJ answered her with a solemn nod.

"God, JJ, it really wasn't something we could have noticed, okay, this is not your fault. Don't you dare go blaming yourself. " The blonde gave another nod. "Look at this on the plus side. If it's the same man that has Elle, she won't be alone. And I an certain having a man on the inside to help her and get her out safely is a bonus. So don't worry." JJ never said another word, instead she just looked down to the floor and gave another nod.

.

Twenty two minutes. He noted, as his hand automatically reached for Elle's back again. Kneading harshly.

"Deep breaths." He assured her again, and coached her.

Amidst the pain, Jimmy returned to the car, opening his door with the key before looking in.

"Ah, it seems things are moving along." He smirked, evilly. "Not as fast as I had planned, but the walk should make it faster." Hotch glared at him.

"You can't make her walk!" He shouted, furiously, still watching out of the corner of his eye at a panting Elle.

"I can, and she will. The walk will do some good for her." He reached over into the glove department and pulled out the gun. Damn, why had not Hotch looked in there!

"Can't we just drive?" He practically begged, not liking how weak he sounded right at that moment. But right now it was not about him, it was about the woman next to him and the baby she was currently having.

"Hotch." Elle finally spoke, as the contraction let up and her body straightened out. "It's fine. A walk sounds good right now." She said, and Hotch realised just how uncomfortable she must have been. Stuck in that car for almost three hours, scrunched up in her own body in that back seat.

"Okay." He said, and then he saw the opportunity, as Jimmy began to open the door and undo his cuffs. He reached out, and punched him in the side of the face. It was a weak punch though, Hotch still being under the effects of the chloroform.

"Idiot!" Jimmy shouted, pulling the gun out and aiming at Elle's stomach. "Try anything, and Elle and the baby die." That was enough for him to stop the escape attempt, as he saw Elle's eyes widen and she gulped in fear.

"Okay. Okay. We'll walk." He surrendered, and let him finish to take off his handcuffs. One gun always pointed at Elle throughout the process.

"Don't try anything." He warned again, watching as Hotch rubbed his sore wrist. Then he went over to Elle's side of the car and opened the door for her. Not bothering to help her out although she was struggling somewhat.

"At least let me help her." Hotch said.

"She doesn't need your help. She can do it by herself." He glared at Hotch, the gun still trained on Elle's back when she finally managed to free herself from the restraints of the car.

He prodded the gun in her back and ordered her to walk over to Hotch. Painfully, he saw her take each step, unsure if she was in pain because of the baby or because of being cramped up in the car for so long. He noted it down to it being both of those things.

"Are you okay, Elle?" He asked, watching her like a hawk.

"Yeah, fine." She told him, with a small smile.

Hotch watched her carefully, and took her hand into his own just to make sure she did not fall with the extent of the pain. Then he panicked, wondering where the hell they were walking to. He cursed himself for not wearing a watch, or something that could help him keep track of Elle's contractions. But there was none. So he would have to mentally keep a track of it all.

"Keep walking, the pair of you." Jimmy said, with force. Shoving the end of his gun into Elle's back, making her stumble slightly, but Hotch kept a hold of her.

"Where are we going?" He asked, not even turning around for fear of him or Elle meeting the barrel of the gun.

"You'll find out soon enough. Just keep going straight." The words were flat, void of emotion. Hotch became certain that this man felt no sorrow for what he was doing, and felt nothing out of doing it… So why? Why the children? Another thing he could not figure out. He would figure it out, though. But right now, he was focused on the brunette by his side.

Elle's eyes found the ground beneath her. In front of her, was more accurate considering she had stopped having the ability to see her own feet for some time now. So she looked ahead, at the soiled, leaf covered ground, and tried to carefully avoid any pot holes, tripping hazards and anything that looked too downright dangerous. In the silence of the woods, the crunching leaves being the only noise around, Elle felt her mind wonder to the current predicament she had gotten herself in.

She was kidnapped. A victim. Her baby was going to be a victim… softly she rose her hands to her stomach… That poor baby resting beneath her fingertips was going to enter the world, and the first face it will see would be that of Jimmy Cooper.

Then the nagging feeling returned, the one she hated. The one that told her she was vulnerable. Elle Greenaway hated being vulnerable. She was always the one in control. Always the independent woman. Elle then remembered, that once strong woman was gone. She left the day she was shot. She's never been the same since. Elle could always put a mask on, but the nagging feeling hung there. She was unsafe. No one could be trusted.

So she trudged along, swearing to herself that everything was going to be different. That her little girl could rely on her. And she prayed. Prayed to God to get out of this alive. Prayed that her baby would not end up as big as a screw up as she was.

Hotch had to admit, he was starting to over-analyse everything a bit too much. Analysing the small movements Jimmy was making behind him, waiting for the gun to be off Elle. He was analysing even the way the small trees blew in the wind, as if they had some form of vendetta against him. Hell, he was even analysing himself. Each crunch of a leaf told him that he may be killing a small creature. That made him like Jimmy. Like what Jimmy might do to Elle's baby.

He had to shake his head. Tell himself that an ant getting stood on, and torturing the life out of a person was different. That there was a difference between him and the psycho with his gun. His gun! He finally remembered, and with each step gave a shake of his ankle. It definitely was not there. That only made them be in even more trouble. Jimmy had two guns… Possibly four if Elle still wore two.

Then he began to analyse the woman next to him. The way she held her shoulders, as if it was cold. But it was far from cold. The way she always looked down to the floor. God, he had not noticed that she could have been considering this her death walk. He needed to distract her.

"Isabella." He decided to break the silence with, and he could tell it had worked, as Elle's eyes snapped up to meet his.

"Eh?" She gave a small smile of confusion.

"If Jack was a girl, I would have liked the name Isabella." She gave him a smile. "Not that Haley would have liked it." He rolled his eyes, that told Elle the joke about Haley was fine.

"It's a very pretty name." She told him.

"Yeah, maybe you can give your little girl a name prettier than that. I'm sure she would suit any name." Elle gave the smallest nod.

"Maybe I will." She gave him a light nudge. "Oh God." The moment was short lived as Elle came to a holt from her walking spree, the gun nudging her as she did so.

"Elle?" Hotch asked, taking a hold of her hand.

"Why the hell did you stop?" Jimmy asked, fuming.

"Cont-" She managed to squeal out, and Hotch walked around, and began to rub her back.

"Okay, breath." He coached her, panicking slightly in his mind. That was too close to her last one… too close.

"Twenty minutes exactly. Told you the walk would improve things." Jimmy said with a smirk. "Now did I say you could stop walking?" He fumed, and Hotch furiously turned around to meet his eyes, but only stopped when he was facing the gun. "Walk." He ordered, coldly. Harshly.

"Okay, Elle. Slow steps." He glanced back into the gun another time, shooting Jimmy a glare, while keeping Elle slowly walking, breathing and rubbing her back through the pain as he did so. Then he scoffed: who said men can't multitask?


	6. Chapter Six

**Thanks for the reviews, it really is nice to get some feedback. :)**

**Sorry about the time it has taken me to update, I got distracted by my Doctor Who DVDs.**

**This chapter is dedicated to my Nanny, who sadly passed away 19/05/11. Forever in my heart. 3**

**Chapter Six**

"There's no sign of them. Nothing anywhere besides from Hotch's cell, badge and car." Morgan informed them.

"But there's no sign of him?" asked Prentiss.

"No." Morgan answered, shaking his head.

All conversation was cut short as another SUV pulled up outside the home, and out ran Johnny, Reid and Rossi.

"No sign of Hotch?" Rossi asked, and could tell the answer already by the missing team member and the solemn look on the other team members faces. "How's he holding up?" Rossi tilted his head to where Mark was pacing frantically.

"He doesn't seem too happy. 'Specially now he knows we had the man under our radar and then let him escape." Morgan huffed, not all too happy with the situation himself. "That and we found some trousers downstairs that had some blood on them. Mark's confirmed they were Elle's. The medics have said that it's quite likely she is in labour." Rossi closed his eyes, and blew a deep breath out through his lips.

"Great." He replied sarcastically.

"Do we know how he got Hotch?" Reid now asked.

"The coffee he gave him, it was drugged. It didn't seem like he drank much, but it would have been enough for him to get him in the car and drive off with him and Elle." Morgan told them both.

"But won't Hotch over-power him? When he wakes up?" Spencer questioned.

"Not if he's got a gun he won't. We know he doesn't have Elle's, but both of Hotch's are missing. He's most likely changed his tactic to keep power over both of them." Rossi cut in on Morgan's explanation.

"They found some books under the bed upstairs. We need to go through and see if we can find the place where he would take them." JJ said, now looking into all of their eyes.

"Isn't there a faster way?" Mark grumbled from over the other side of the room, still pacing some what.

"No. Not if we want to do it accurately." JJ explained. "But we will find her. And we will have her out before the baby comes." She gave him a reassuring look, adding false hope to him. Mark gave a nod, somewhat satisfied with her lies.

"You think?" Rossi asked, in a whisper so Mark did not hear them.

"I hope so. Let's just hope Elle can keep her legs crossed for a little longer. She knows what she needs to do and hopefully she will do what's good for her." JJ told him, that earned a small laugh from Morgan.

"Since when has Elle ever done what's good for her?" His small joke lightened the atmosphere in the group, for only a fraction of a second. But it was soon diminished as they began to scale the stairs.

.

It seemed like he made them walk for hours when they finally arrived at the small cabin in the middle of the woods. Elle's feet slowly trudged along, exhausted from the walk, and the further two contractions she had experienced along the way. God, how much she hoped for a hospital bed right now, with Mark at her side and some of those lovely drugs.

As the door was opened by Hotch, who had a gun pointed at his head still. She realised that she would have to do with a nasty looking hospital bed, that was made up neatly, and Hotch at her side. Elle gave a groan, and hoped that they were close to being found. Knowing exactly what was going to happen here. She would have the baby, be killed, Hotch would be killed too, and then Jimmy would take her little girl off into some proverbial 'sunset' that she never wanted to know was on the horizon.

"Climb up." He told Elle, turning to lock the door as he saw Hotch distracted by helping her into the bed. "Normally," He began, walking over to the two. "I would go and wait a little while, until the woman has had the baby and then I will come back. But things seem to be on your side, Officer Greenaway, and Agent Hotchner here can play the midwife." He gave her a smirk, knowing that he was venturing into a new form of torture all together. "Now then, I'll be seeing you two in…" A glance at his watch, "about three hours? Good luck!" He smiled evilly and Hotch listened as he latched the other door shut on the other side of the room, before looking around in a panic.

First he tried to tug at the door, but it would not budge. Then he tried to kick it. Run into it. Anything at all, but it would not open. How much he wished for Morgan to be there right at that moment. But no, it was him. And he was stuck looking after Elle.

"It's locked." He told her, and saw her eyes widen slightly. "But don't panic, okay. I'm here, and the team will find us soon. And if they don't I will deliver this baby, and get us out. Everything is going to work out fine, Elle. I promise." He took her hand in his own and pulled a stool closer to the bed.

"Promise? Hotch, you need to stop making promises you can't keep. Okay. Stop lying to me. We're not getting out of here on time. I know that. All I hope is that we get out of here before something serious happens." He kept his mouth shut, and only nodded solemnly. Knowing she did not want to be fed any more bull. Always the same Elle Greenaway.

.

The team still sat up in Jimmy Cooper's bedroom, books, notebooks and computers splayed around them. Morgan was searching through the recently hacked into laptop, seeing if he could find anything at all that would help them. JJ, Prentiss and Reid were still searching through the books. David Rossi was downstairs, trying to keep a still fuming Mark calm.

"Guys." Reid said, after another forty minutes of reading. All of them looked from what they were doing to look at him. "I keep finding a reference to a 'Hanley's place.'" He informed them.

"I found that too…" JJ commented, flipping back through the book for where she had found it, "I thought it was more like a metaphorical place though. It didn't seem all to real." Stopping at the page, she passed it to Reid.

"I have a reference to a Uncle Paul Hanley." Emily now said, showing the page where that reference was.

"So we might have found them." JJ said, all too hopeful.

"Morgan, see if you can find anything on the computer." Morgan gave a nod.

"Already on it." He said, flipping through photos and word documents. "I have found this…" He told them, opening up a folder of photographs. "It's been named 'Uncle Paul's funeral.'"

As he clicked open the folder, they were all a little sick inside. The pictures displayed a clearly dead, rotting man in a coffin and as the photo's progressed, it was shown that the coffin was cremated, and then showed that the ashes were scattered over the river a little bit down from this crematorium. Then the most horrific thing came to them. Images of small, newborn babies. It was clear to them that those were the children of the women he had kidnapped.

"Oh God." JJ was the first to say, looking away from the images. Reid followed suit, knowing if he looked at another there was not a chance he would be able to get rid of the mental image. Now only Prentiss and Morgan were still looking, out of fear and shock.

The babies were placed into coffins, quite obviously alive and cremated… Then their ashes joined his Uncle's in the river.

"He's trying to bring back his Uncle's memory." Prentiss said, a little distant.

"Yeah… But why not cremate the woman as well?" Morgan asked.

"Respect? Maybe he had a better plan with his mother. Wanted her to be buried in a respectful way…" She suggested.

"Can you send those pictures to Garcia? From the timeline's she should be able to figure out which baby is who's and then we'll get the images for the fathers… But not the end ones." Morgan gave a nod to JJ's words, not looking around to see Emily give her hand a small comforting squeeze.

"Let's go and find Johnny… this town's small, he might know where this place is… That way we can save Elle before anything happens." Emily said, giving JJ a small reassuring smile.

.

The small room of the cabin seemed to be quiet. Aside from Elle's small huffs and breaths. Her arms laid around her abdomen, not letting her baby go. Hotch glanced up from his position on the stool to the clock on the wall in front of them, noting the time in his head. Elle's contractions had been getting really close together through out the time they had spent in the cabin, and, in the past two hours, her contractions had gotten down to around every five minutes. It was nerve wracking for Hotch, but everything seemed alright for now. He knew they still had a chance as long as her waters had not broken…

"Hotch." Her shaky voice came, and he could see the worry in her eyes, and hear it thick in her tone, something was wrong.

"Elle?" He asked, with a small bit of worry as well.

"My…um…" She avoided his looks, and he knew exactly what she was trying to say. God, they really needed to be saved right now. "My waters broke. I think." She said, her avoidance of eye contact and the quietness of her voice told Hotch she was terrified. He knew he really needed to stay strong right now. For all three of them.

"Okay, Elle. Don't worry. But you really need to take your trousers off." He told her, her eyes widened like saucers.

"What?" Elle began to shake her head, "No. It's fine. I don't need to push yet. I don't." She repeated, over and over. Hotch gave her a small smile.

"It's not because of that Elle. But I really can't have you sitting in wet for the next hour or whatever. It's going to be uncomfortable for you and the baby." His hand came to rest on her shoulder. "Do you need a hand?" Elle shook her head, and began to shimmy out of her bottoms. "I'm going to cover you over with this, alright?" He held out his jacket to her, knowing there was not a chance she would actually want to be covered by the blanket. As he saw her give a small not, he dropped it over her. "Now your contractions are going to pick up, I need you to tell me when you feel like you may need to push." When she began to shake her head, he gave her a small smile, "It's not a choice, Elle. If you don't do what your body is telling you to do, then you will harm the baby and yourself." As she gave the smallest hint of a nod, he fully covered her over with the jacket, and rested a hand on her knee.

"But… Hotch." Her eyes pleaded with him, almost begging him to make it all stop. Begging him to save her.

"I have told you, don't worry. Even if she is born, I will do all I can do to protect both of you until the team arrives. Okay. Nothing will happen, just concentrate on that baby." She gave the smallest nod. "Alright, now lets get you comfortable." He walked around and helped her to sit properly up, adjusting the pillow behind her so she was resting up against it properly. "Okay, just relax, and when you do feel like you need to push, and you will, you need to push for ten seconds. No less."

He then looked around the room, trying to see if there was something that will help them.

"Elle, I need to see if I can find something to help us. Scissors or something, okay?" He did not wait for the nod as he began to race around the room, checking for every little thing. In a small first aid kit under the sink. They looked like they would not even cut through paper, but it was worth a try. He settled the kit down on the stool before taking one of the shoelaces out of his shoe. Looking up, he saw Elle's confused face. "To cut the cord." He explained.

His eyes once again darted around the room, looking for anything to wrap the baby in. He saw nothing, so, instead, he began to unbutton his own dress shirt.

"Hotch, what the hell?" Elle gave him a look, with the slightest hint of an amused smirk.

"We need something to wrap her up in, when she arrives. We can't have her getting cold." He explained.

Elle did not have time to argue, or make a comment about his shirtless ways as a contraction overtook her body. She cried out, the pain being too strong for her to handle.

"Do you feel like you need to push?" He asked, and she frantically shook her head. Hotch glanced at her a noted the way she was trying to breath, yet holding something back with more force. "Elle." He gave her a warning look, peeling up the end of the jacket to see the baby's head crowning. "No, Elle, you need to push." She shook her head, "Elle, if you don't the baby will be at risk."

With all of the might she could muster, Elle began to bear down. Biting her lower lip to stop herself from screaming. She held her breath, and then, ten seconds was over and relief washed over her as Hotch said 'ten!' Sucking in the biggest breath she could manage, she panted.

"Okay, that was great Elle. You need to do exactly the same on the next contraction, alright?" She gave him the smallest nod. "Alright, just keep breathing until the next contraction comes along." Turning around to glance at the clock, he found the meaning lost as Elle began to huff and give yet another giant push. "Great, Elle. You're doing great." He told her, supporting the baby's head as it slithered out of her body. "Three… two… one. The head is out, alright. She looks fine. The next one is going to need to be even harder, alright? You need to get the shoulder out. Push one out and I'll be able to ease the other out."

It seemed as that as soon as the words were finished, a contraction consumed Elle's body, and, with everything she could muster, she gave a massive push. Something felt like it popped from her body, and Elle felt like she was burning.

"What's that?" She asked, in a state of panic.

"That's just the shoulder, okay? Breath for me." He told her, laying the top under where the baby was dropping and easing the other shoulder out. "Push!" He told her, when he felt a small struggle where he felt he could not get it out. Elle had also started panting by that point, so he knew she needed to.

It was only a moment before the baby slithered from her body.

As fast as he could, Hotch began to rub the baby with the blanket off of the bed, making sure she was cleaned over and warming her up.

"Why isn't she crying?" Elle asked, a little panicked.

"Sshh… Don't worry." He told her, rubbing lightly on the small child's chest. She was tiny!

Seeing nothing else to clear the baby's airways with, he used his smallest finger in her mouth to clear out any of the stuff that was in there. Then he tried his best to get rid of what was in her nose. A small wail filled the room, and he heard Elle give a relieved cry.

"She's fine. She's fine. I just need to cut her cord. Speaking off, you'll feel some more contractions, don't fight them, just push with them. Then everything will be over." Grabbing the pair of scissors and the shoelaces, he tied the cord off, and cut at it. A moment later, the placenta slipped from Elle. "Okay, good." He told her, finally cutting the cord from the child.

Tenderly, he wrapped the blanket around her body, and held her close.

"Do you want to meet your little girl?" He asked, and Elle nodded. Carefully, he placed her into Elle's arm, and he saw her eyes brighten at the small child in her arms.

"She's so small." Elle said.

"Yeah, she is. But it's nothing a bit of feeding won't solve." He gave her a smile, Watching as she rocked the small baby until the crying stopped. The locks began to turn on the door. "Stay here. Do not try and play hero." He told her. Giving the smallest kiss on Elle's forehead, and then kissing the baby's before standing behind the door.

There was only a second of tranquillity, in which they all knew Elle had held her daughter close, willing this not to be the last time she ever saw her. Hotch knew he would not let that happen. Not to her. Then the door opened, and he did the unthinkable. Before Jimmy Cooper was even expecting it, he connected his elbow with his face. A gun shot rang out. And Elle jumped…


	7. Chapter Seven

**Thank you guys for the reviews, they really make me motivated. Here's the next update, and I hope you all like it!**

**Tell me if you did or didn't. Reviews bad or good are reviews all the same! :)**

**Chapter Seven**

Hotch looked around the room in a panic of lights and red. Before he had known what he was doing he had taken the gun from out of Jimmy's hands, his foot connecting with the man's head. Whether he blacked out or died from the kick, Hotch did not care. That was not his main priority right now. Looking up, he saw Elle, tears streaming down her face, eyes tightly shut in fear. As he walked over, he put his hand on her arm, and she jumped.

"Sshh, Elle. Sshh. It's alright. He's gone. We've got him." She gave a shaky nod. "You keep an eye on her for a moment." Another reassuring shake of her arm and he was gone, dragging Jimmy through the doors with him.

It was now that Elle realised something was wrong. Her eyes looked to the wooden wall, where the hole was from the gun shot. So no bullet had hit her. But she remembered this feeling. Drowsy, sweaty. It was like she was shot all over again.

"The door's locked." Hotch said, as he ran back into the room. His heart stopped as he saw Elle's pale face. "Elle, what's wrong?" He immediately raced to her side, and was quick to notice the baby getting put into his arms. "Elle?" He asked, again.

"Hotch, thank you. Make sure… make sure she is safe." Hotch's brow creased, and he knew, if he did not know better, it sounded like Elle was saying goodbye to him, and to the small child. Before he could say anything, her brown eyes lost her sparkle, and her eyes drooped shut.

"Elle!" He said, with far more force, shaking her shoulder slightly. With one hand he fumbled to find her pulse, but was really relieved when he did find one.

It was a small moment of panic, as he looked to the open door, where Jimmy lay down the hall, unconscious, he hoped, and then to the baby now crying in his arms. Rocking her slightly, he gulped. Knowing she missed the warmth of her mommy.

"Hey, sshh, we're going to get you back to mommy and daddy soon." He gave her a small kiss on her head, wrapping his shirt tighter around her. Then his eyes fell onto Elle. Something was wrong. That was not something as a result of exhaustion, he told himself. Almost not wanting to, he walked back to the end of the bed, and raised the tip of his jacket. There, right under Elle was a slowly growing pool of blood. She was haemorrhaging. That was not good. Eying up the door, he was not ready for what happened next.

.

"We go in on three." Morgan said, from the other side of the door, whispering. Knowing that everything would end in a panic if they went in there with a warning. This was most definitely a kick the door down and shoot, operation.

"One…" Prentiss was the first to say.

"Two…" JJ now said, a row of them waiting with guns.

The three was inaudioable. No one heard it, but it was in all of their heads. Raising his right foot, Morgan kicked down the door with force. A force Aaron Hotchner had wished for before.

Everything happened in a quick flurry as soon as the door was open. Derek Morgan never once letting his gun down as he scanned the room. There he saw Elle, passed out, pale and a shirtless Hotch cradling the baby.

"He's out in the hall." Was all Hotch had to say before Morgan and Johnny raced off down the hall. "Ambulance." He said, looking towards Elle.

"On it." JJ told him. "They said they were literally a minute away." He gave a nod.

The room fell silent, apart from the baby's screams, as Mark walked into the room, wide eyed as he looked from Elle to Hotch.

"Is she okay?" He asked.

"She's haemorrhaging. Are you Mark?" He asked, almost in a flourish. Quickly, the man nodded. "congratulations." Hotch gave him a small smile and handed the baby over to him. "Be careful, she is tiny."

"She is." Mark said, almost in awe. "She has some lungs though." He commented and Hotch gave a small laugh.

"Yeah. You'll get used to it." He said, walking over to where his team were by the door.

"Never thought I'd see you shirtless." Prentiss teased, and then Hotch only noticed his nakedness, with some embarrassment.

"We needed to wrap her in something." Hotch explained as they looked back over to the slowly pale growing Elle. Mark at her side.

"Elle, you need to wake up, sweetheart. You need to stay strong. We need to name her, and argue over the layout of the nursery and who's changing the diapers. Please." He begged, stroking her cheek with one hand softly, while looking back to his daughter, and then his wife. Tears were dripping down his face.

The heartbreaking moment was interrupted by the medical crew racing into the room. Then no one was sure what was happening. Elle was put on a stretcher and then into an ambulance, Mark and the baby in the back with her. Everyone else began to get into SUVs to follow her, Morgan and Johnny taking Jimmy Cooper to the hospital as well, as he complained of a 'concussion'.

.

"Awh!" JJ cooed as the team all walked into Elle's hospital room, only a few hours later. Mark looked up to see her, beaming.

"Did they check her over?" Hotch asked, looking him in the eyes as he nodded.

"Six pounds, two ounces and fifteen and a half inches. So, she's small, but they said she would do fine when she gets feeding." Mark told him.

"Good… And Elle?" He asked, looking towards the fragile woman in the bed next to him. A drip came into her hand, giving her all the painkiller she needed and she was wired up to a machine measuring her heartbeats.

"They said she would be fine. A couple of days here, and she would be good. We need to keep her in too, so that gives me a couple of days to get everything put up and ready." There was a small groan.

"We'll help." Morgan automatically offered.

"It's okay, honestly. I'm sure I can manage." Mark gave him a small smile.

"No, really. I work in building as well, so I don't mind putting things up and what not. I'm sure those three don't mind either." His head tilted towards Hotch, Rossi and Reid.

"I don't mind." Came Rossi's answer.

"I'd be happy to." A now shirted Hotch replied.

"I can… try?" Reid gave a shrug and they gave him a light smile.

"Hear that, sweetie. We're going to get your room done. You're going to have a bedroom." He nuzzled his nose with the baby. "Now all we need is Mommy to wake up to give you your name." He cooed at the baby, who was obviously sleepy.

"Isabella." Came a small groggy voice, and all eyes fell onto a slowly waking up Elle.

"You're up…" Mark smile, giving her a kiss.

"Guess so." She gave him a smile, as she sat herself up properly.

"You shouldn't do that. You'll hurt yourself." Mark informed her. Elle's only response was a quirked eyebrow which reminded him of all the times she had gotten hurt in the work place. "What did you say?" He asked, finally remembering how they realised she had woke up.

"Isabella. The baby's name." She told him.

Across the room, Hotch began to smile.

"Isabella?" Mark asked, looking to the little girl in her arms. "It's beautiful. But where the hell did you get that?" He asked.

"Being kidnapped gives you a lot of time for thinking." She joked, but no one bothered to crack a smile. "Too soon? A friend gave it to me." She looked to Hotch.

"You didn't need to do that." He told her.

"Of course I did… But I thought calling her Aaron would have been slightly weird… and the only female form is Erin… not a good memory-springing name there either." They all knew she was referring to Erin Strauss. "But you said that that was a name you liked, and I liked it since the moment I heard it. It felt right." He mouthed his thanks to her.

"Isabella?" Mark repeated, giving her a small kiss.

"Enough baby time for you. I want to see her." Elle demanded, holding her arms out for her.

"If only you'd be this willing in a few days, at three in the morning." He teased her.

"Night shift is yours." Elle pulled a tongue at her, as she cradled the tiny baby in her arms. "Hey, Is." She said, giving the baby a kiss. Isabella, somehow sensing she was back in her mother's arms, opened her eyes to look at her. "There you are, gorgeous. Look at those eyes… blue?" She asked.

"Most babies are born with blue eyes, they'll change in the next few months." It was now Elle looked up with a smirk on her face.

"Oh, Spencer Reid, how I've missed you." She laughed.

"Thanks?" He asked. "We've missed you too." He answered, and Elle smiled again, looking around the room.

"Don't you have a case to get to or something?"

"Not for the next few days. We're busy with putting baby furniture up." Morgan informed her.

"You really don't have to do that." She said.

"But we want to." Morgan told her.

"Thanks." She gave him a smile Morgan had to admit he had missed. Then the moment was ruined as a baby's cry filled the room. "Sounds like someone's hungry!" Elle teased, rocking the baby.

"Yeah, we held off feeding her until you woke up. No one was sure if you wanted breast or bottle." He informed her. Well that was awkward.

"Bottle. I am not explaining that to her when she is twenty one." Elle glared at him.

"Okay, I'll get a bottle from a nurse." He gave her a quick kiss on her head before walking out of the room, leaving the team, Elle, and a crying Isabella.

"I never thought I'd see any of you again." Elle broke the silence, but they could tell she was joking with the smile she gave. JJ stepped forward with a camera.

"Garcia wants a picture." She explained, and Elle laughed again.

"I bet she could hack into the hospital security and get one. Actually, I thought she would have done that." They all gave a laugh. All but two who were standing kind of awkwardly.

"Oh, Elle, these are David Rossi, and Emily Prentiss." Hotch explained and Elle rolled her eyes.

"I know who they are, dumb ass. I did keep track of things once I left; didn't want you to all go downhill without me." She gave him a joking smile. "Thanks." She gave them a smile.

"All you." Rossi said.

The moment was short lived as Mark returned with a nurse and a bottle.

"Miss Greenaway, I do recommend you try and breast feed her, it will be good for both of you." The nurse tried to convince her, but everyone knew once Elle's mind was made up, there was no changing it.

"Not a chance." The woman went to open her mouth again, "As I said, no." There was a sternness, but a niceness to Elle's voice as the woman handed the bottle over. Elle checked the temperature and then began to feed a rather hungry Isabella.

"You'll need to register her." The nurse nodded toward the baby. "But that will be after you've left. A week or so. For now we can update her band if she has a name." The nurse looked towards the small hospital band on the baby's wrist.

"Isabella." Elle told her, and she gave a nod. Trying her best not to disturb the baby as she got the band off of her, changing it so it said her name.

"Isabella…?" She urged her for more name.

Elle looked to Mark who shook his head and shrugged.

"Isabella Robyne Sanders. Robyne with a Y and an E." She told her. The nurse filled in the slip of paper and put it in the band again.

"Good luck with her." The nurse said, "When you're ready, just come and get me and we'll get her another bottle or whatever." Elle gave her a small nod and a smile, watching her leave.

"I hate happy people." She said, as soon as the nurse was gone. They all gave a laugh before Mark said.

"You know, you just gave our baby the initials: IRS?" Elle gave a laugh.

"I'm getting her ready for her future job." She shrugged.

"Technically, jobs aren't based off of a name. If anything the name would put the child off of the job any further… Statistically…" Reid rambled off.

"Shut up Reid." Elle laughed at him, shaking her head with amusement.

Her eyes dropped onto the small baby. Her baby. Isabella. She was perfect.


End file.
